According to tradition, St. Thomas the Apostle was martyred on December 21, and for many centuries the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church celebrated his feast on that day.
Thomas may seem a curious apostle to celebrate right before Christmas, but his example can be an inspiration to us, who sometimes doubt the power of the Christ Child at Christmas.
Here is a prayer from Dom Prosper Gueranger in his Liturgical Year that asks for St. Thomas’ intercession during these final days of Advent.
O glorious apostle, Thomas who led to Christ so many unbelieving nations
hear now the prayers of the faithful,
who ask you to lead them to that same Jesus,
who in five days will have shown himself to his Church.
We ask not, O holy apostle, to see him with the eyes of our body,
but with those of our faith, for He said to you when He showed Himself to you,
“Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed!”
Of this happy number we desire to be.
We ask you, therefore to pray that we may obtain the faith of the heartand will
so that when we behold the divine Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and laid in a manger, we may cry out, “My Lord and my God.”
And today we celebrate...